


Vigilante

by rennerfan_1



Category: Jeremy Renner - Fandom, gary Webb
Genre: Jeremy Renner - Freeform, kill the messenger - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-03-26 11:10:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3848764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rennerfan_1/pseuds/rennerfan_1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gary Webb has swapped one career for another, a journalist turned author and is writing a new book. He must uncover lies and truths about a series of homicides that shook the city and get the true story of what really happened.....with the murderesses help. Can Gary Webb uncover the truth of what happened?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The killings had taken the city by a storm and left every citizen having mixed feelings about the seventeen victims. Some argued that seventeen convicted sex offenders had been given the punishment they should have gotten in the first place for their crimes, and others argued that the killer responsible for the crimes was an animal, like the sex offenders. Regardless of how the authorities felt about the choice of victims, they had to be impartial and catch the killer and bring the person responsible to justice. Eventually after sixteen months, the police had caught a twenty-four year old woman red handed during a sting operation. The woman had contacted all seventeen of the men and women via the internet and started corresponding, finally arranging to meet. From there, she drugged them and took them to a derelict warehouse out in the middle of nowhere and began her deadly assault. During the interviews with police, the woman had been extremely cooperative and described what she had done perfectly. She told them of the techniques she used to obtain confessions and then she killed them. The seventeen corpses were scattered around the city, somewhere where they could be found and somewhere that gave her the opportunity to get rid of them. She confessed and in return for her cooperation, was sent to seventeen life sentences with a minimum of twenty-five years without parole. She had accepted this in the court room and the trial had only lasted two days, the young woman refusing to give a statement in her defence and people's curiosity got the better of them. No one could understand how a young woman who had done so well in school, worked three jobs to help support her mother and siblings would take the law into her own hands and most of all target a group of people who were convincted predators. It would be something that for years that even her mother couldn't understand, or at least that's what she said in the many interviews conducted by journalists and chat show hosts. There would always be someone seeking their fifteen minutes of fame and it didn't necessarily mean they wanted to be shown in a positive light, but would suffer the negative attention by revelling in the limelight, even at someone else's misfortune.

Gillian Parker had lived in the city all her life and had grown up in a nice neighbourhood with her mother and a string of boyfriends after her father died when she was fourteen, and her two siblings. She was a completely normal child who loved the colour pink and dreamed of having a pony. She was academically minded and did well in school, but was like any other kid who ditched classes to hang out at the mall. After graduating high school and completing a two year course at college, Gillian worked two jobs to help support the family. She worked in a supermarket five days a week and then went to her second job as a waitress in a local restaurant three nights a week. In any week, she would only have one single day and night to herself before returning to the routine. Gillian Parker was normal and no one could understand why such a normal person would commit such terrible acts of violence. Everyone she knew, friends and family and neighbours were never able to understand why Gillian had committed such terrible criminal acts and doubted they ever would. They couldn't see past the Gillian they knew and loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Gary Webb had wanted to reveal the truth about the governments corruption and despite smear campaigns and attempts on his life, he achieved that when evidence was brought forward by other countries to prove that his original article was true. It had amazed him how so many countries were involved with the CIA and their involvement. The organization was involved in everything to money laundering, professional hits, drugs and firearms, a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. The main thing was that the countries who had worked with the CIA were now against them. They had found their hero and the reporter was all too happy to build an undeniable case against them. No one could deny the presented evidence and arrests were made during the investigation, prison sentances followed. After it was all done with, Gary Webb returned to his newspaper and his family. He was content and happy, his family proud that he had stood up against something and held his ground. Of course it had causesd so many rows and arguments. A year after the corruption was first released, the reporter was propositioned. He was asked to write a book about everything in much greater detail and he did was flourishing success. It was his agent, Eileen Maxaell who then took him under her wing and encouraged him to write more. It was clear that his talent was in investigative journalism, so that is what they would focus on. So far Webb had three books on the shelf, the corruption involving the CIA, the true story of a woman who had run a foster home and adopted thirteen children as well as having her own family and his latest works were about a young girl who had suffered from anorexia and had beaten it. His works were a loose biography, but each book told of mystery and the harsh realities of life. Everyone snapped up his books as soon as they were on sale. 

Gary and his wife Susan lived comfortably in the home of their dreams with their two sons. They had all suffered and made sacrifices during the backlash from the CIA scandal, but came out on top. Susan had called it a lucky escape for their family. She encouraged him to write those books even though he would be all over the country, but his recent works were far safer. Lucas and Matt were proud of their father and reaped the benefits of having him at home more, as well as the extra money. The family felt that their lives were better now than it ever had been before and nothing could stop them from making things work.

 

"Ian! Eric!" Susan calls upstairs to her two sons. "Come on or you're going to be late for school. We all have things to do today." 

"We're coming, mom!" Eric yells back in reply. "Did you wash my gym stuff?" 

"It's in your gym bag." She answers and joins her husband and their daughter in the kitchen. "Is Elaine still coming over today?" 

"Mhm. She said she's got some new project she wants me to take a look at, so I said I would take a look." Gary answers and hands his wife a cup of coffee. "But that doesn't mean i'm going jump straight in without thinking."

"Like you did last time." She reminds him, referring to the CIA scandal. "Gary, we're settled here and I don't want the kids to be upset like that again. They've moved schools, been made fun of. I don't want that to happen again." 

"Come on, Sue. I've written books since and not one of them has given this family any unwanted attention." He argues. "I promised you that I wouldn't do anything to put the family at risk and I mean it. You have to trust me on this."

"I do trust you, but I don't trust where it could lead to or end." She tells him. "Think about it."

Gary understands his wife's concerns and doesn't blame her for the way she feels. Their family had been threatened and uprooted because he wanted to prove a point, to show everyone the evidence of what he had uncovered. He had lost his family and was even luckier to get it back. As the children get ready for school, Gary pulls his wife to the side.

"Whatever the project is, we'll decide together if I should write it." 

"I'm just worried that you're going to be offered something that can't walk away from." She admits. "It's selfish, but we need you here. We almost lost you once."

"And you and the kids won't ever lose me again. We have the same argument every time I start a new project and I want you to trust me on this when I say that i'll never put any of you in danger again."

"I know you won't and I feel better for saying it, even if it is a thousand times. I feel like if I don't say it, then it could happen again. But I do trust you." She says with a small smile and kisses her husband. "I'll see you tonight."

He waves to Chrissy as she waves from the backseat and he blows her kisses like he usually does every other morning. His sons are moaping in the back because they hate school so much, but it isn't that bad that they skip classes or get into trouble and they seem to settle once they are there. He had felt the same way about school, except he did skip classes and get into trouble. In high school he spent a lot of time in detention, but that's where he first met Susan. His meeting with Eileen is scheduled for eleven, so he has time to kill and he uses that time to be grateful for what he has. He thumbs through the several photo albums, smiling at each picture. Before he knows it, the doorbell is sounding. He greets his visitor with a smile. She is shapely, a little smaller than he is and is ferocious when someone annoys her. 

"Eileen, come on in. How's Jackson and the kids?"

"They're all great. Jackson is getting a promotion with the fire department and Jonny has decided that he wants to follow in his father's footsteps. Benjamin has decided he wants to be an actor." She tells her friend. "How is Susan and the kids?" 

"Of course, every kid's dream these days is to be a movie star or a rock star. Sue and the kids are great, they've settled. Coffee?" 

"Would love one, a strong cup." She tells him as she sits down on the sofa and gratefully takes the cup from him. "One thing I do miss is straight forward coffee, none of that designer stuff with froth here and there. Okay, so let's get started. Do you recall the name Gillian Parker?" 

"Vaguely, why?" 

"She was incarcerated after openly admitting that she killed fifteen active sex offenders once she was arrested and questioned." She reminds him. "Ring any bells?"

"Yeah, it does. No one ever knew why she targetted them or took the law into her own hands."

"Exactly, but this is our opportunity." She says excitedly. "Gillian Parker wants to tell someone her story."

"And how does this involve me?" 

"She's read two of your previous books, told her lawyer that you were fair and truthful in your writing." Eileen says. "She isn't prepared to give anyone else this opportunity, except for you."

"So what, I go in there and talk to her a few times and find out why she killed some child abusers? People aren't going to care why, Eileen. In their eyes she's done the entire world a favour."

"But there's more to it than that and you know it, Gary." She argues. "People are curious, i'm curious and people are always going to wonder why she did it. Isn't that the one thing every single person thinks about when any kind of killing or tragedy happens?" 

"Now you're confusing a serial killer with natural disasters. Yeah, people are going to wonder why she or Bundy or Jack the Ripper killed people, but they shouldn't be made into some glorified beings." 

"You know that I would be the last person on earth that would glorify anyone who took another person's life." She answers. "That's your opinion, so what's your opinion on that nurse who supported euthanasia and helped those dying cancer patients go to sleep." 

"Eileen, you're making this very difficult for me to say no to you."

"Then why don't I leave this file here, given to me by Gillian Parker's lawyer. Have a look and see what you think." She says and places a thick folder on the table. "That's only some of it, the rest will be given to us if we decide to write this book." 

"Okay, i'll take a look and then i'll get back to you on it. Are you happy now?" 

"Perfectly. I'll call you tomorrow and see if you've made up your mind about it." His agent says as she gets ready to leave. "I've got a feeling about this one and it's a good feeling."

"No pressure, huh?" 

"None." She laughs. "Give my love to Susan and the kids. Oh, and we're having a barbeque on the eleventh, be there. I mean it, Webb." 

"We'll be there, with beer." 

As soon as Eileen is gone, curiosity nags at him and nudges him subconsciously to the file on the coffee table. He is intrigued as soon as he has read the charge sheet and turns the next page to find it blank. He should have known Eileen would have pulled a stunt like this to keep him interested and now he wants to know a little more about the woman who murdered fifteen sex offenders. In his office, he searches the killings and reads up on them from a reporter's point of view. All the articles are more or less saying the same thing, an unidentified person or persons, who is targeting previously convincted sex offenders for reasons unknown. Already the author is hooked by the story and all he needs to do now is tell his wife he has accepted the project. 

 

Gary decided that he would tell Susan about his latest project once they were alone and away from the kids. Susan, Ian and Lucas and even little Christine had all gone through hell because of what Gary had uncovered and written about in his first ever book. There would always be backlash of some kind, but they never expected it to be like how it was. They all agreed not to talk about it, especially in front of Christine who still didn't understand and wouldn't be told about it until she was much older. The boys were different, they knew and still didn't talk about it. When curious friends asked, they played dumb. 

Susan is in bed with the family lap top in her lap when Gary comes upstairs. She looks up at him and then closes the screen a little as she watches him take off his shoes at the side of the bed. 

"So, what was this big project that Eileen was so excited about?" She asks, part of her not wanting to know. 

"Do you remember those murders that happened where a woman killed fifteen people?"

"Erm...." She says as she recalls it and then nods. "Yeah, no one ever figured out why she did it. Not that i'm saying she's a hero or anything, but she did stop fifteen predators from attacking kids."

"Yeah, that's her. Well, the question everyone is asking and wants to know is why she selected, killed and turned vigilante." 

"And you've to persuade her that you want to reveal her story?" She raises an eyebrow, skeptically. 

"It's already in place and ready to go. Eileen was approached by her lawyer for me to do this book. Eileen said she read the others in prison and wants me to tell her story." 

"And what are you going to need to do for this book?" Susan looks at him. 

"Research, mostly. Go in and talk to her, talk to friends and relatives if she has any, go talk to old teachers or employers and find out who she was and what she was like before this happened. No one so far has been able to tell the world why she did what she did and this could be the chance to do that."

"It always puzzled me to think how someone who didn't even know those people, except for what they had done and decided to kill them." She says with a sigh and nods. "You have my support since that's what you're looking for."

"I knew your own curiosity would get you wondering." 

"Don't push it, Webb or you're on the couch." She says pointedly as they both start to settle down for the night. "When do you start with this new project?" 

"Eileen's going to call tomorrow, sometime. I thought the first meeting should be face to face and as soon as possible. I've got to be able to prove she can trust me."

"I think she already does or she wouldn't ask for you specifically." Susan says as she gets comfy and cuddles into his side. "Now be quiet, some of us have to work tomorrow."

With the support of his wife and with her behind him, he feels much better about tackling the new project and book. He wishes he could turn back time and undo dark alliance or at least do it differently where it didn't put his family in danger. He swore, made a solemn vow with God that he would always seek permission and understanding from his wife before jumping into a situation head first. He had done that and she had given him her support.


End file.
